Barely a month after its release and The Bridge, a creative partnership between software titans Ableton and Serato, is already being hailed as the Next Big Thing, with good reason: The Bridge encourages DJs to become producers and producers to become DJs by merging the functionality of Ableton Live and Serato Scratch Live into a unique DAW that serves up a new world of opportunities for remixing, mash-ups and live performance.

Says Ableton's CEO Gerhard Behles: "We can't yet see the limits of where these combined tools will take our users, but it will be exciting to watch."

We agree, which is why we invite you to watch these exciting videos, and check out our personal take on what The Bridge can do for you today...

First Look: The Bridge

The Bridge gives you real-time turntable-style control of your own multi-track productions – a new spin in real-time performance. Simply drag your Ableton Live Set to a deck in Scratch Live and use your turntables or CDJ to control the transport. Scratch Live enhances your productions with deck control, mixing, nudging and DJ style looping, allowing you to remix, mute/solo tracks, use virtual instruments, change drum patterns, manipulate audio, tweak effects and launch loops on the fly in Ableton Live.

Making the Perfect Mixtape

In addition to serving as a state-of-the-art live remix tool, The Bridge also functions as the ultimate mixtape creation tool, letting you export your Scratch Live mix to Ableton Live, where you can edit it as much as you want; add new loops; apply effects; adjust your timing; smooth out your fades and correct any mistakes.

Perfection is a tweak away.

Cool features at a glance...

What you see:

A limited window on Ableton's Session View: You can see 4, 5, or 8 scenes, and 4, 6 or 8 tracks, clip color and status (just as if you were in Session View), track controls, and two sends. You also get effect device controls and two sends.

Live's tempo

Indicators for bars and beats, overlaid atop your waveform views in Serato, so it's easy to see how the two are meshing (or not)

A sync player, which Ableton's describes as being useful "for embellishing songs, in case you'd like to assign Ableton Live's sync to a song on one of your decks, without using up that deck with a Live Set."

DJ-style Looping of Ableton Live's Transport — that is, the entire transport for the entire set, not just an individual clip. This is a big one, as previously Ableton Live users weren't able to loop like this, i.e. do 16-beat looping; and when you exit the loop, you end up back on the ‘one.'

What you can do:

Control Live's transport: play and stop with Serato as if Live itself is another deck.

Sync Live and Serato easily, without having to worry about which you load first.

Change tempo in Live.

Nudge forward and backward (which should make for some nice beat syncopation effects).

Use virtual vinyl to control the Live transport.

What you can't do — yet:

There's no reverse audio recording of the output of Ableton Live — there's no way to route audio from Live into Serato, so –

You can NOT scratch or reverse Live's audio as if it were another deck, yet...

"Yet" being the operative word. Keep in mind this is a first-generation product from two perpetually forward-thinking companies.

Our take: With today's digital DJing moving further and further away from merely beatmatching and mixing and more towards live performance and remixing, The Bridge could be the perfect middle ground between live production and DJing; and maybe just the push needed to persuade those with passion for production into trying Serato, and Serato users into making their own music using Live.

Pricing and availability
The Bridge is free for anyone who owns registered versions of both Serato Scratch Live hardware and Ableton Live 8 or Suite 8. The Bridge for Serato ITCH will be released in 2011.

ANNOUNCING THE BRIDGE WORLD TOUR!!!

If none of this is melting your face, two words: Try it. Demo Bridge and see for yourself if getting from here to there didn't just get a whole lot easier...

How? Serato and Ableton product specialists and the industry's top DJs and producers are taking The Bridge to select cities worldwide.

These free demos will offer an introduction to Ableton Live and Serato Scratch Live, as well as an in-depth look at The Bridge, so whether you're an experienced digital DJ or just getting started, these Bridge demos offer invaluable tips and tricks to help you get the most out of Serato and Ableton.

Got requests? Your feedback on what video content you need for your venue/events is not only appreciated but very important to our programmers. Please email us at Throwbacks@PromoOnly.com to request older material and at VideoRequests@PromoOnly.com for newer releases you feel are relevant.

For more information on our Hot Video Classics and Specialty dvds, call 407-331-3600 or click here to email Customer Service today!

Master of the Mix8 Episodes. 7 DJs. 1 Master.
It's a new spin for reality TV
It's on: America's hottest deejays are stepping out of the clubs and on to the small screen for BET's new reality show "Masters of the Mix," sponsored by Smirnoff Vodka.
Billed as the ultimate turntablist face-off, Masters follows deejays from all over the USA as they live together and compete head-to-head to show off their turntable technique with song choices provided by judges Kid Capri and Just Blaze.

"There are a ton of talented deejays out there looking for more ways to showcase their work," says Blaze, who has worked with Jay-Z, Lenny Kravitz and Drake. "They deserve the kind of recognition that the show will hopefully give them."

"It's time for deejaying to get the props it deserves," adds Bronx native Capri, who came to fame at Studio 54.

The two hope the show will bring an awareness of how much hard work goes into spinning -- and maybe inspire kids to get into the music business like they did.

"I still remember listening to the radio as a kid and being fixated on remixes," Blaze says. "And my first time at [former Chelsea club] Tunnel, when I was probably 17, was unforgettable."

"The music scene has changed a lot as New York's nightlife is always changing and updating," says Blaze. "We hope this series showcases what's going on right now and gives viewers an appreciation for the people that make nightlife, in New York and across the country, what it is."

Masters of the Mix airs Wednesdays at 10:30pm, beginning 11/3 on Centric. The show will re-air on Saturday nights at midnight ET on BET. Encore views are also available on BET's website.

The pleasure was ours last month as we awarded Dallas/Fort Worth ADJA members Mike Mahnich and Belinda Goodman two free 6-month subscriptions for their part in supporting their local ADJA chapter.

An annual October tradition, this year's DFW convention welcomed a variety of guest speakers that included ADJA president and noted tech-guru Dr. Drax; wedding-advertising expert and VP of marketing for The Knot, Alan Berg; and George Lopez, one of California's most successful multi-op owners, who shared his vast experience in building a business and managing employees with those many in attendance.

Have you checked out the many advantages of belonging to a nationally recognized DJ organization? DJ organizations like the ADJA (American Disc Jockey Association) take the strength in numbers philosophy seriously and use their numbers to offer members a lot of perks unavailable to those who fly solo.
For example, did you know membership in the ADJA includes...

Success guru Stacy Zemon joins us this month with some good news for DJs: "On September 27th, 2010 President Obama signed into law the Small Business Jobs Act of 2010," says Zemon, "thus providing a wide assortment of new tax breaks and incentives for small businesses, like yours."

According to Pro Mobile DJs' Money Answer Man, Jerry Bazata: "Although the bounty this bill provides is plentiful, there are four main dishes you need to focus on before year's end. I cannot emphasize strongly enough: DO NOT let this opportunity pass you by! Now is the perfect time to invest in new equipment or expand your current operations..."

CLICK HERE for the full story on ProMobileDJ.com Portal to the Disc Jockey Business.
Log on to the ProMobileDJ.com home page and sign up for the eNewsletter. It will arrive in your inbox every month, and you'll get a chance to WIN FREE DJ STUFF too!

Griid is an advanced clip grid interface which allows you to control Ableton Live (running on your desktop or laptop) from your iPad, iPhone or iPod Touch. Using specially developed touch objects and simple gestures, Griid is carefully designed with the performance experience in mind.

Griid offers four fluid ways to navigate your Live set.

Standard scroll

Intuitively drag the sides of the clip grid to scroll Griid. As your whole Live set is already held in memory, this is a smooth, and instantly gratifying experience.

Inertia scrolling

Users of the iPhone have grown to love fluid inertia scrolling when browsing. Griid lets you enjoy this experience when travelling around your Live set. Swipe with your finger to travel medium distances with ease and find just the right clip.

Lost?

If you're playing your favorite killer hook but have moved elsewhere in your set, how do you get right back to that clip –fast? Tapping on that track's header will instantly deliver the clip to your fingertips.

Overview

Dealing with large sets on most controllers can leave a busy DJ in a bind, forcing you to reluctantly reaching for the mouse. Overview generates a bird's eye view of your whole live set, large or small, at the tap of a button. Touch anywhere in the Overview to jump immediately to that part. Clips at different ends of your Live set are suddenly next-door neighbors.

Our take

Finely tuned for rapid navigation, Griid allows you to enjoy the freedom of playing Live sets of any size with ease. Explicit visual feedback means that you have all the information you need literally at your fingertips. Combined with wireless operation, this means you can perform with Ableton Live anytime, anywhere, free from the ties that bind.

Available as Griid Lite (free!), Griid and Griid Pro from the Apple store.

Hitting TWO holes-in-one during the same round of golf: 1 in 8 million

Becoming an alcoholic if you drink regularly: 1 in 10

Being hijacked on a plane by terrorists twice in the same year: 1 in 150 million

Being hit by a meteorite: 1 in 200 million

A woman being color blind: 1 in 1000 - 10 times less than men!

An adult catching head lice in any given year: 1 in 100

Dying in an airplane crash: 1 in 2.2 million

Choking to death on food: 1 in 250,000

Getting killed in a road accident: 1 in 15,800

Going into permanent vegetative state after head injury: 1 in 1 million

Getting kidney stones in any given year: 1 in 100

An un-born child growing up to be a stutterer: 1 in 400

Flying on an airplane with the same flight # as a plane that crashed: ZERO (flight numbers are always eliminated after a crash...)

How Rock Groups Got Their Names:

ABBA
From the initials of the 4 band members; Agnetha, Bjorn, Benny & Anna-Frid

Bad Company
The band took its name from the title of a 1972 Jeff Bridges film.

The Beatles
All the Beatles were fans of Buddy Holly & The Crickets, so John decided to call his band the "Beetles". Then he changed it to the "Beatles"as they were a beat band.

Dire Straits ,
A friend suggested the name due to the band's perilous financial position

The Doobie Brothers
Used for the American slang "doobie" - a marijuana joint.

The Doors
Taken from a line written by Aldous Huxley: "All the other chemical Doors in the Wall are labeled Dope..."

Duran Duran
From the name of the villian in the Jane Fonda film Barbarella.

Eurythmics
Named after an early-twentieth-century form of dance and mime based on Greek methods of teaching children music through movement.

Foo Fighters
Took their name from the nickname that Allied Forces in World War II gave to unidentified glowing spheres.

Iron Maiden
After a medieval torture device consisting of a metal form with spikes on the inside.

Judas Priest
Taken from the title of the Bob Dylan song "The Ballad of Frankie Lee and Judas Priest"

Led Zeppelin
From the Keith Moon (drummer from the Who!) line--which he often used--"That went down like a lead zeppelin".... The band later dropped out the "a" in "lead".

Level 42
Took their name from The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams, in which the number 42 is the answer to the "meaning of life."

Lynyrd Skynyrd
Named themselves after Leonard Skinner, a disliked gym teacher at their high school.

Oasis
The name came from a sports center in Swindon.

The Pretenders
After the Sam Cooke song "The Great Pretender".

Radiohead
The name came from the Talking Heads song "Radiohead".

The Righteous Brothers
When the duo performed at black clubs, they were praised with the words "That's righteous, brother."

The Rolling Stones
Named themselves after a Muddy Waters song, "Rollin' Stones".

Simple Minds
From the lyrics of the David Bowie song "Jean Genie"

Steely Dan
From the William Burroughs novel Naked Lunch, in which Steely Dan was a steam-powered dildo.

Tears for Fears
From the methods in primal scream therapy used by the psychiatrist Arthur Janov.

Three Dog Night
From the Australian slang for a freezing night; in the outback a man would need to sleep with one dog to keep warm on a cold night, two dogs on a very cold night and three dogs on the coldest night.

ZZ Top
Billy Gibbons, the band's vocalist, was inspired by the Z beams on a pair of open hayloft doors.